Return of Evil
by Kaimelar Ruler of Hyarme
Summary: An ancient Dark Jedi's spirit returns and terrorizes a Jedi Temple on Yavin 4. Really, really extended universe.
1. A Bit of Training

Nicolae Jetty Skywalker walked through the enormous stone halls of the Jedi Temple, hidden deep in the jungles of the fourth moon of Yavin.

"I knew you were coming," he said, as his friend Breeann Luiz fell into step next to him. "I could sense your presence through the Force."

He had a reputation to live up to, being the great, great, great grandson of Jedi Masters Luke and Mara Skywalker, so he was always practicing and training.

"Oh, Nicolae," Breeann's musical voice touched his ears like a gentle breeze on a spring morning, "You always were the best at Force Sensor, back when we were just young children. But now, since you're going to be turning twenty in a few days…" her voice trailed off as they reached the dueling arena.

_Luke Skywalker would have been proud_, Nicolae mused as he walked in. _This must have been how the arena looked at the Battle of Geonosis so many years ago._

The floor was made from a hard black material that reflected the lights above. Thousands of seats ringed the central area, ready to hold the many students at the Temple. The walls rose up high, until they arched together at a peak in the middle of the ceiling.

A voice broke into his thoughts. His dueling partner was calling to him.

"Hey Nick, I was wondering when you would get here." His friend Valtur chuckled. "Did you and Bree get 'detained'?" he asked with a wink.

Nicolae responded with a mischievous smile of his own, and slid his twin lightsabers from their leather sheaths on his belt. The hilts had the look of polished brass and, as he ignited them, the violet blades glowed brightly. 

Not to be outdone, Valtur removed and ignited his sword as well. The saberstaff he carried had two deep orange blades. He then walked with Nicolae towards the center of the arena.

One of the other students had lowered the intensity of the lighting, making the details of the room hard to see in the semi-darkness. The two duelists bowed when they reached the center, and both assumed a ready stance. Valtur made the first move as he lunged forward, using his saber like a javelin. Nicolae quickly parried the thrust, and took a small leap backwards to his left, putting himself out of range of his friends swinging blade. He took several steps forward, and somersaulted in Valtur's direction, slashing at his legs. Valtur cartwheeled off to the side, and then stabbed forward again while twisting in an attempt to disarm his opponent. Nicolae crouched and swung one of his sabers in a wide arc, attempting to throw Valtur off balance. Valtur jumped straight up into the air to avoid the swing. Unfortunately, he landed his leap directly on the back of Nicolae's neck. 

The last thing Nicolae saw as he blacked out was the faint image of people running towards him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He woke up several hours later in the Temple's medical ward.

"How are you feeling?" a voice asked from next to his bed.

He turned his head to see the lead healer sitting next to him. "I'm feeling fine."

"Good, you should be. After they brought you here, we were not sure how injured you were, but an hour in a bacta tank works wonders on any injury.

Now, if you're feeling alright, I suggest you get back to class."


	2. A Celebration

Nicolae strode back towards the arena for the second time that day. He walked into the room and found his class waiting for him.

"We sensed you were coming, and Breeann suggested waiting for you." said his instructor, Cato-nai. "Now back to the lesson. When your opponent performs an over the back thrust while in midair, bring you…"

A voice broke into Nicolae's thoughts.

_Are you all right?_

He turned to see Valtur looking at him.

_Yeah, I think so._ he responded. _It's just, when you were about to land on me, I felt this pressure in my mind, blocking my Force sense._

_ Hmm, that's strange._

_ Yes, it is. Well, whatever it was, it's gone now._

"Valtur, Nicolae, are you listening?" Their Bothan instructor's fur rippled. "I asked Nicolae what the proper defense ring was for defending against hand-thrown explosives, but perhaps if you are to tire you should go back to your room, hmmm?"

"No, Master Cato-nai. The outer defense ring is used against thrown explosives to limit the explosive damage from any detonation that occurs while destroying the explosive. An example would be destroying thermal detonators as they are thrown at you." Nicolae said, embarrassed from being chided in front of the class.

"Now," Cato-nai continued, "Can anyone name other examples this would be used for while in…"

Class continued and ended with no further mishaps.

On the way to the Great Hall, Nicolae spoke further with Valtur.

"Hey Nick, that pressure you were talking about sounds something like what I heard about the time that the ancient spirit of the Sith Lord, Exar Kun, attacked the Temple, here on Yavin 4."

"Are you saying that there could be a Dark Lord of the Sith here, under all of our noses?"

"Well, there have been strange accidents happening within the last month or two. Take what happened to Faralyle last week, for example. She was walking into her quarters when all of the sudden, the door slides shut on her leg. She swears there was no one else in the room or in the hallway at that time, and the doors have sensors that are supposed to prevent something like this from happening."

"It may just have been an electronic equipment failure. That could happen anywhere, and the electronics in the Temple are not exactly new, you know."

"Okay, okay. All I am saying is that you had better watch your back at the celebration tonight."

Their discussion was cut short upon their arrival at the Great Hall. The room had been greatly enlarged since the first twelve students had come to Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy so many years before.

As they entered through the large double doors, they looked out over the several thousand students assembled there. They quickly found seats and sat down, just as the old Jedi Master, Morgan Katarn III, stood up to speak at the large table reserved for the members of the Jedi Council.

"Brothers and sisters in the Force," his Force amplified voice carried over the crowd, "I welcome you to this celebration. It has been a long time, but tonight we shall celebrate the 150th anniversary of the fall of the Empire!"

The students all cheered. Katarn waited until the room had quieted, and then continued.

"I should say, though, that it is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the reconstruction of the Republic, as well as the Jedi Order!"

The cheering was even greater and louder this time. Suddenly, it was silenced by a loud gasp from Katarn as he held his head as though having a bad headache. He then fell forward towards the table, where several other Jedi Masters caught him and lowered him to the floor.

A new voice spoke up from, it seemed, all corners of the room. The tones of the new voice were menacing and evil.

"Excellent. All is going as planned.

As you can see, my weakling Jedi, your Master is in great pain; dying, in fact. Oh, and just so you know, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it!

Mwaa ha ha ha ha ha haaa…"


	3. Clues of the Mystery

The voice ended as quickly and mysteriously as it had begun.

"Could this have something to do with the other injuries in the temple?" Nicolae inquired of Valtur.

"I don't know about that, but I do know that it is about time we paid a Jedi Mistress Ar'ley a visit and asked her about these incidents."

Valtur turned from the table, and followed by Nicolae and Breeann, headed towards the turbo lift that would carry them to the farthest corner of the Jedi Academy, and the tower home of the Jedi Mistress.

Upon arrival at what was known amongst the students as "Dreamer's Tower" and called the "Tower of Visions" by the teachers, the three companions started the long climb of twenty flights of stairs. Each friend was silent, unaware of what they were about to learn.

When they reached the top most room of the tower, a door at the head of the stairs opened silently, revealing a room lit only by candles. Sitting on a hoverchair in the middle of the room was the esteemed Ho'din Jedi, Ar'ley Albart'ash. For many years she had lived in the tower alone, accompanied only by ancient lightsabers of Jedi long gone and old holocrons holding the secrets of the Force.

She spoke to them in the singsong voice of her people.

"Many hurts,

and many dangers,

you must tolerate

if you are to find

the answer to this predicament."

"Yes…" Valtur responded. "We need to ask you some questions."

She arched her eyebrows in curiosity. "Yes?"

"I believe that you are aware of the strange goings-on and accidents that have happened in the Academy as of late. We need to find out what is going on, and who is responsible for these problems."

"Ah, yes, the accidents. Such a pity, no? Let me tell you a story.

Back in the time after the fall of the Emperor, there was a man by the name of Kyle Katarn. He was the one who discovered the Valley of the Jedi and then turned from the Jedi Order after defeating the dark Jedi Jerec. He then returned when the galaxy was threatened by another dark Jedi, Desann, after which he returned to teach at the Academy with Luke Skywalker. Desann was killed in a temple not far from here, as well as many dark Jedi "Reborns." There may be a connection between your accidents and Desann's spirit."

"So you're saying that Desann's spirit could still be inhabiting these temples around Yavin 4?"

"Quite possibly."

"Thank you for your assistance, Lady Ar'ley." Nicolae said.

"Anything to assist the Academy." She responded.

The three companions left the dim room and began the long trek down the stairs.


	4. The Evil One

Back in Valtur's room, they learned from a datapad that no evidence had yet been found concerning the now-serious illness of Master Katarn. They seated themselves around a holochess table while they discussed what they had learned.

"So Mistress Ar'ley thinks that it might be Sith spirits." Valtur said, as he logged into the holochess board.

"It certainly seems that way." Nicolae responded as he too activated his side of the board.

"But there must be a thousand possibilities." Breeann put in.

"Yes, but think about it." Nicolae countered. "It has to be someone or something that is deeply in tune to the Force, whether the Light or the Dark. Also, it is most likely a spirit, or it can use a hidden speaker to put its voice out like that in the Great Hall."

All three students were silent as the game progressed. When it was over, Breeann and Nicolae silently slipped back to their own rooms, contemplating this mystery.

Late in the night, Nicolae was woken from his restless sleep by a strange Force call. As though in a trance, he got up from his sleep couch, wandered through the halls until he came to the entrance to the Temple, and then went out through the great arched doorway and struck off through the jungle.

Back in her room, Breeann awoke with a start. She could sense that something was not right. Looking out the window, she was just in time to catch a glimpse of Nicolae as he entered the dense jungle. She hurried out her room and went down the hall to Valtur's.

"Valtur, something isn't right here. I just saw Nicolae head out into the jungle alone."

"You what?" Valtur exclaimed. "At this time of night?"

"Hurry," She pleaded, "If we go now there may still be a chance to catch up to him.

The two of them quickly made their way through the halls and outside, going along the path Nicolae had used.

The two companions followed their friend through the dense jungle of Yavin's moon. Suddenly they broke though a clearing and came upon a large black temple.

"What do we do now?" Valtur inquired, as Nicolae walked right on in, still in a trance-like state.

"We find a good spot and watch, and then attempt a rescue." Breeann responded.

They climbed the stair-like sides of the ancient building until they came to a large crack in the roof. Peering down, they saw that Nicolae was tightly bound to a board, which was hanging over a pool of lava that seemed to flow from the ground.

"Look!" Valtur hissed in Breeann's ear, "Over by the table."

Over by a low table, hovered the spirit of a tall reptilian-headed humanoid creature. Near him, on the table lay Nicolae's twin lightsabers along with another saber with a large spiked ball on the butt of the hilt.

As the two watched in horror, the spirit slowly lowered Nicolae towards the flaming liquid while speaking out loud to no on in particular, or so it seemed.

"Oh, great and all powerful Lord Naga Sadow. I offer this young Jedi as a gift to you. All I ask of your high lordship in return is a physical body, through which I may kill Morgan Katarn, avenging my death and the death of Jerec, and destroy the Jedi Order. Receive now my gift."

Breeann and Valtur had heard enough. Lightsabers blazing, they dropped down through the gap in the roof and stood ready to defend themselves and their friend.


End file.
